Petersen bound to be a Bluejay

LHS senior already setting goals for the next level

Loveland High School's Kelsey Petersen, who will be making her third state golf tournament appearance next week, recently signed to play for Creighton University.
(Christopher Stark)

Not even one month has passed since Loveland High School senior Kelsey Petersen signed a national letter of intent to play at Creighton University. And yet with one more tournament still to compete at on the prep level, she's already set goals for where she wants to be a couple years from now with the Bluejays.

"I hope to be their No. 1 player by my sophomore year," said Petersen, who next week will cap her high school career by playing in her third straight Class 5A state tournament.

Based on the work ethic Petersen has displayed the past four years at LHS, coach Doug Schneiter sees no reason why she can't make that kind of impact.

"When she sets her mind to it, whether it's on golf or academics, she pretty much makes it happen -- or at least she's going to give it her best shot," he said.

Schneiter would know. The past four years with the Indians he's seen Petersen grow from a freshman just happy to chase her ball around the course and shoot in the triple digits to a fierce competitor eyeing a top-10 finish at state next week in Grand Junction.

As a senior with a 4.0 GPA, Petersen has always excelled in school, so much so that she also earned a partial academic scholarship that combined with golf will pay for nearly all her tuition. However, nothing so far in the classroom compares to her passion for the links, which is why she made playing golf in college such priority.

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"A lot of the schools I talked to said golf with pre-med or pre-law would be really hard. And if I went to nursing I would have to quit golf by my junior year," she said. "I like golf more than I like anything I've studied thus far, so I'm just going to go into business and just see where it takes me."

Petersen was proactive when in came to her pursuit of playing at the next level, and after reaching out to a number of schools, she narrowed the final list to four. She considered playing locally at Regis or down in Louisiana at New Orleans or McNeese State. But after visiting Omaha, Neb., the choice was obvious; an added bonus was that her father -- a golf pro who helped develop her swing over the years -- also lives in the area.

"I was looking at four other schools, but once I went to Creighton, I loved it," she said. "I realized it would be really fun to go there for college. Some of the other schools were nice schools, but their golf program wasn't what I was looking for. At Creighton, it all just kind of fell together."

As forward-thinking as she is about her future, Petersen is also focused on the present, which means sharpening game to improve on last year's top-30 finish at state. For the most part she feels she's hitting it well enough to make that happen, as long as she can get her short-iron play dialed in.

"From 60 yards in I need to be more consistent, making sure it's not only on the green, but closer to the pin," she said. "That's when I get to chunking it, because I get nervous and I'm not as confident over the ball in those shots. But I've been practicing that, so hopefully I get it down by next week."

If she puts in the practice time in the coming week like she has been the past four years, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Mostly what's impressed me about her is her work ethic and her focus. She knows how long it takes and the work it takes to get better," Schneiter said. "She always the first one to practice and the last one to leave."Sean Star can be reached at 669-5050, ext. 512, sstar@reporter-herald.com or on Twitter @seanvstar

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